New Orleans Vacation

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

Tim and I are going to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in a few weeks. Surprisingly, I've been through New Orleans several times, but I've never been for a trip. The event spans over two weekends, but we have chosen to attend the 1st. If any of you have been to this event or to the city and would like to recommend some places to see and things to do, please do so. This trip should be so much fun! Tim and I don't get to travel much by ourselves, so I'm looking so forward to adult time.

Here we come New Orleans!

Busy, Busy, Busy... Now Relax.... AHHHH

The last few weeks have been so busy and I've not had a chance to blog. Oh, how I've missed it!

Let's start with 4 weeks ago... we started the Saturday (10/17) out at a fall festival with Lisa and Wyatt. Wyatt and Laura had a great time playing in the pumpkin patch and picking out their pumpkins. Laura and I had to leave a little early this year so that she could go to her friend, Crystal's Birthday Party. The party started at 4:00, but lasted into the night. They all had such a good time together and had a hard time when it was time for the parents to disburse.

That next week Laura and I stayed pretty busy preparing for her Birthday Party, which was 10/24. Her theme this year was Hello Kitty, so we had to get all of the supplies; cake, balloons, napkins, plates, goodie bags, etc. ready for Saturday. She wasn't too thrilled with the planning part of it, all she wanted was the actual party itself. I was very surprised at the kind of party Laura asked for this year. Tim and I take her to this place near our house and it has bowling, laser tag and gaming machines. Well, that's what she wanted to do this year. As girly as she is, I was surprised she wanted to have it there. But, I have to say all the kids seemed to enjoy it. Because Laura's Birthday was actually during the week, we decided to go ahead and give her the big gift before the big day.Now Tim and I both thought we would get a much bigger reaction than we did. Tim showed up with Laura's new puppy, Lilly, that she had been asking for all year and her response to Lilly was just "Hello". Are you kidding me? We thought there would be jumping and screaming and all we got was "hello"? Oh well, I guess you never can tell how they're going to react, can you? Laura and Lilly were able to spend a little bit of time together and then it was off to her party.They all seemed to have a really good time, and the boys really enjoyed the laser tag . I think that was the highlight for all of them.

My Parents always come in for Laura's Birthday, so the week they are here I try and find fun things for them to do. One of the Keener traditions is going to Dewberry Farms so Laura can pick out another pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. So, we headed there for our Sunday afternoon. This year, now that Tim's Dad and Stepmother live in Katy, we ended up having a larger crowd - me, Tim, Laura, Grame, Pops, MawMaw and PawPaw. Now that Laura is older we decided to do the Corn Maze this year. That was a lot of fun and will be a new tradition at Dewberry from now own!

The next week seemed to be a little hectic. Laura's dance instructor gave them all permission to wear their costumes to the Tuesday class but before Laura could wear hers, Grame had to do some alterations. Luckily Grame came through and had her outfit all ready for her when we got there Tuesday afternoon. The rest of the week we were all getting ready for Halloween and Tim and I actually got a few date nights in. What fun! It's nice to be able to get out and have adult nights from time to time. One of our date nights was a movie night. We saw the Michael Jackson movie, "This Is It". It was really good!! We both enjoyed it. The movie seemed to be a little long, but all in all it was nicely done. It's hard to imagine putting together a movie about MJ's final dance/dress rehearsal, but they did and did it well!

Saturday rolled around, which happened to be Halloween (10/31). I had gotten tickets for me, Laura and Grame to see the musical, Mary Poppins.Laura thoroughly enjoyed it. It was fun to watch her expressions during the show. At times you'd see her little hands go up in the air when Mary was singing in a higher octave and when the orchestra played, it was like she was the conductor. Too funny!

After the musical, we had to hurry home to get dressed up for Trick-Or-Treating. Laura ended up being a Hollywood Starlet. This was the first time we've ever let Laura wear "dress-up" make-up. I have to say, she looked so pretty. Looking at her all glammed up, made me think about 10 years from now, when she's getting ready for her prom. Oh, time is just flying by so quickly. Lilly also got dolled up for the festivities. She went as a Princess Pup. Too cute!! By the time we got both Laura and Lilly home, they were pooped from the day.





Sunday, Mom and Dad had to head back to North Carolina. That day always seems to be a hard day for everyone. We all get a little sad that we wont be seeing each other for a few months. So, I had planned earlier in the week for Laura and Wyatt to get together and go to the park for the afternoon. I think that seemed to help a little bit, but even when we left the park the tears came because Grame and Pops would not be there when she got home. Now that she's older, it seems to affect her more.

Now, fast forward to the next weekend (11/6). For Tim's Birthday (in September), I surprised him by flying his best friend from childhood, Chad along with his wife, Joanna down for a weekend in November. This would be that weekend. They got in around 6:30, just in time for dinner. We all went to Pappadeaux's and it was wonderful. This was one of the first restaurants I visited after moving to TX and have loved it ever since. After dinner we headed back to the house to get ready for an adult night out. Laura was having a sleepover with MawMaw and PawPaw. We ended up taking Chad and Joanna to see a local band that Tim and I really like, Lounge 4407. We had such a great time. The band was, as always, fabulous! Tim really enjoyed catching up with Chad and it was so nice to hang out with his wife. They were both so nice and great to hang out with.

Now after a month of being busy and on the go and what seemed to be nonstop, we finally had a calm, relaxing weekend. This past one was one of the first in quite some time that we didn't have anything planned. I got so much done around my house. Don't get me wrong, I still have a ton to do (my piles never seem to go away). But, we had a great time. Last night we ended up having movie night so Tim and Laura made homemade pizza's. Earlier in the day, Laura asked if she could open up a concession stand and sell popcorn and candy at the movie. So, she and I had gotten some things for her to "sell" at her concession stand. She had such a great time doing that. She charged me a little more than I would have liked to have paid for a candy bar, but to her it was so much fun.

Ah, I think I've rambled on long enough. Hope everyone is doing well. Just think, in a few more days it will be Turkey Day. YUM YUM!!

Birthday Weekend

This past weekend, Tim and I celebrated our Birthdays in Dallas, TX with our little one, Laura. For Tim's Christmas present, I had bought tickets for the NHRA Race. Tim has been wanting to go since we got here, so I thought it would be something fun for all of us to do. Unfortunately, I think Laura was too little to enjoy being at the races. She did not get in to it at all. At the beginning, she was ok as you can see in the picture above, but the mood quickly changed once the Top Fuel cars started to race. Even though Laura wore protective head phones on her ears, it was too much for her. Every time the cars would start their burnout, Laura would just cry. I ended up getting her down from the stands and she and I walked around to all of the vendors and to some of the little "shops". We ended up getting her another stuffed animal, like she doesn't have enough, and that seemed to work for a while. Then it got so hot and once again the tears started because all she wanted to do was leave. Needless to say, we weren't there for the whole day but Tim did get to see some of his favorite cars.

We also got to see Ashley Force Hood, as well as her dad, 14-time NHRA Funny Car National Champion, John Force. That was the highlight of my trip. If you don't know them for drag racing, you may know them from their reality show "Driving Force". It's one we never missed an episode of.













After leaving the track, we ended up having a relaxing afternoon and headed home Sunday after having lunch with one of Tim's old bosses, Sam and his wife Fran. If you're ever in Dallas, you must go to Babe's Chicken. We go every time we're there and it's well worth it.

Overall, we had a good time and if nothing else... next time we know Laura will not be happy at the drag strip.

Happy Anniversary Honey (09-09-09)

It's amazing to think we married 9 years ago today. Yes, it was Tim's brilliant plan to get married on the 9th month on the 9th day in the year 2000. That way he would always remember our Anniversary. Well, today is an even more significant year. It's the 9th month, the 9th day in the year 2009 and we've been married 9 years. I've had a great 9 years years and look forward to many more of them.

We've had our ups and downs and neither one of us has been perfect, but we've hung in there.... together. We've remained side by side and I'm so glad we did. I'm married to my best friend, to the one that's there to listen to my trials and tribulations, to make me smile when I need it most. Many of you don't know this, but Tim does everything for our family. I mean that when I say it. Everything! He doesn't hold the same belief that most husbands do, that a woman's job is to cook, clean and take care of the children. He's better than that, he does it all. Yes, he cooks, he cleans, he does the laundry, he does the grocery shopping and the best thing I know that he does, he looks after Laura and I. I'm so appreciative of everything he does. I don't say it enough but I'm so appreciative. Here's to another 9 years... I look forward to them all! Love you Babe!

Fabulous Weekend

I had one of the best weekends I've had in quite a long time. My SUV did not make it out of the garage and my body did not physically leave our yard. It was so nice! Saturday morning I got up and did the normal spring/summer, weed picking, out in the yard "stuff". Then Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday, Laura and I spent time outside soaking up the sun and hanging out on the back porch. Tim got all of things he needed to do done on Saturday so he was able to take some much needed time to rest yesterday. Tim is not one for just sitting outside all day, or sitting inside all day for that matter, but he would come and visit Laura and I from time to time. It was wonderful to spend time outside, without the TV, catching up with them both. During the week it's hard to find time to spend quality time with them. By the time we get home, go through the mail, cook dinner, take our evening walk/run, pick up from the night before and get baths, it's time for bed and/or time to veg out in front of the TV. So, it was nice to just RELAX this past weekend. Hopefully we can enjoy more of those in the near future.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Most of you probably know but in case you didn't, October is is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Wikipedia: Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) (also referred to locally as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM)) is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention and cure. The campaign also offers information and support to those affected by breast cancer.

As well as providing a platform for breast cancer charities to raise awareness of their work and of the disease, BCAM is also a prime opportunity to remind women to be breast aware for earlier detection.
Last year, Laura, Tim and I participated in the 2007 Susan G. Komen's "Race For The Cure" walk. The picture above was taken at that event. One of the main reasons for our participation was due to the recent knowledge that one of my dearest friends, Lori, was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Until then, I didn't know anyone that had been affected with Breast Cancer. Now, I have come to know of few that have become Survivors of the disease.

The most important thing that I've learned is early detection and self examination. Self examination leads to early detection which, in most cases lead to Breast Cancer Survivors.

Attached is Lori's Donation Website in which she will be raising $1,000.00 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Please visit her website and make a donation today.
http://race.komenncfoothills.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1025543&pg=personal&fr_id=1030&et=mnI90HQ96osoamqpNPKKPA..&s_tafId=1342

In Memory of Grandma Groves

Tim's Grandmother has been sick for quite some time and this morning she lost her battle. Luckily Tim was home 2 weekends ago and was able to visit with her. We will miss her dearly.

It's been a while......

I've taken a while to make a post to my blog, but it seems like things have been full speed ahead since Hurricane Ike hit. It seems several people are still without power. I was out of work for a week because we did not have power restored until the Saturday after the storm. Residents of Galveston Island were finally allowed back this past Wednesday. Thousands are still without power, and may be for several more weeks.

Keith Urban @ The Grand Ole Opry ~ September 27, 2008


Well, today is my Birthday and for such a special occasion, Tim planned a trip to Nashville. We left last night and arrived around 6:00. Because we were so tired last night, we just went to dinner and came back to hit the sack. Today we have been out shopping and walking around downtown Nashville. Every restaurant/bar has someone singing in them. Laura bought a Hannah Montana microphone earlier in the day, so she was singing away every time she walked by a bar with music. Tomorrow is Demo Day for Northern so we will visit all of Tim's stores for the day. Laura and I actually like Demo Day, because we get to ride go-carts that we get to ride while Daddy works. We seem to have a great time. After Demo Day, we will be going to see Keith Urban @ The Grand Ole Opry. I look so forward to it. I think he will put on a great concert. Sunday we will head back home and start the week over again.

Today is also the 1st Presidential Debate. Of course Tim joked a few weeks back by saying "Well I know what we'll be doing in Nashville". At the time I said "no we won't be watching the debate". Well, it's 7:11 Central time and we're sitting here waiting for the 8pm debate. Surprisingly, Tim is interested in watching it to. I think most of it has to do with the 700 Billion Dollar Bailout that is going out. I think he wants to see what's going on with the economy. Last night he was up watching Cramer on Mad Money to see what all is happening with the economy. Tim LOVES that show and could watch it all day long!

Well, I better get going so I can get ready for the debate. Talk to you guys later. Take care!

The Aftermath of Hurricane Ike

Here are more photos of Hurricane Ike's aftermath:

Tim. Laura and I went out yesterday around 1:00. Tim wanted to show Laura all of the fences that were down around our block. He took us around the block, which took about 45 minutes. During that time he touched based with some of his stores. Many of the employees had not had any food that day.

You see, we have very limited supplies of food & water in the Houston area. So, from that phone call, Tim was on a mission. His first priority at that point was to find food for his employees. We finally found a Jack In The Box, close to us, that was open. So, we were able to get 60 cheese burgers and 20 tacos to supply his Houston stores with 2 burgers per person along with a few tacos. Next, we had to hit all of his stores before 5:00, which in and of itself created a problem. Tim called Gulf Fwy first and found that they had a "den mother" take care of them and proved them with sandwiches for lunch. However, the other 3 Houston stores had not had breakfast or lunch. So, now it was time to divide everything out and get to the store. The first store was SW Fwy. They had no power to the building. Their staff was limited as well as their customers. It hard to open a store when you have no power, however, they were actually opened. Our next stop was NW Fwy. They also had minimal power (generator provided power) so they did not have much customer base either. Then we made it to the North Freeway store. They were unbelievably busy. The parking lot when we arrived was completely full. When we got inside it was just as bad. They had generator customers wrapped around the perimeter. It was absolutely crazy! I could not believe it. Tim remained at the front, becoming a cashier, and found that most of the customers had been in line for 7 or more hours. He could not believe it and because I do not work in that industry, I couldn't wrap myself around it. I don't know that I could wait in line for 7 or more hours. However, his dedicated customers did.

We helped for several hours in the N. Fwy. store (I don't know how much help we were) and finally around 8:00 the doors were closed to any more customers. Remember the store closes as 6:00 on Sunday's. After we left, it was getting past Laura's bedtime, so our next challenge was finding somewhere to get her something to eat. Surprisingly we could not find anything until we got closer to our home. Most places are closed in our area (fast food, retailers, etc.). While Tim ordered food, I ended up getting in line at the gas station. We got in line around 9:00pm and it was well after 10:00 before we actually got gas. It was unbelievable the number of people that were in line. More than that, it was unbelievable how many people had to be pushed to the gas tanks. I ended up having to get in the driver's seat so that Tim could help people push their cars to the tank.

We finally made it home between 10 and 11:00, and Laura was exhausted! We got her to bed and as soon as our head hit the pillow we were out ourselves.

I can not believe what an impact this has made. It's hard to believe that so much has changes in less than a week. Electricity, Water pressure, food, electricity and phone service has been completely compromised. They say it could take weeks to restore power. We are very lucky in that we have power, water pressure, food and phone service. However, for most of our Houstonian's can't say the same. It's very sad. As one news reporter said, "Power has been cut to nearly 4 million people, and may be a month away from full restoration.". I can't even imagine.

Hurricane Ike ~ 7th Update

Tim and I went out in the front of the house around 11:00 last night and winds had picked up a great deal. However, not enough for there to be a threat of flying debris. The transformers in and around the neighborhood started blowing up around midnight and soon after we lost power. To loose power in Texas can be miserable as humid as it is here.

Laura went down around 9:00 so she was asleep before the storm hit. Luckily she slept through the entire night. How I don't know, but she did. She woke up around 6am and the winds were really whipping. She had her own flashlight, so she, Tim and I made our way to the den and we sat around watching our little trees blow in the wind. I'm so surprised they made it as hard as the winds have been. We have been very fortunate to not have any damage to our home. However, our neighbors on both sides of us do. It's still really windy outside, even at 11:00 in the morning, and still raining but the worst looks like it's behind us.

We have a very large retention pond in the back of our house and it is completely full. It makes it look like we've got a small sized lake back there. Hopefully the rain doesn't keep up all day, because we could have some flooding to deal with. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Well, I wanted to let you know we're doing fine and I'll check back in later.

Hurricane Ike ~ 3rd Update

Here is the latest view of Hurricane Ike:


Laura and I left out this morning around 7:30 and headed in to work. The roads were very clear, it almost felt like a ghost town, which is hard to imagine with a city that has 5.6 million people in the city and surrounding suburbs. Laura was so excited to see Ms. Stephanie and Mr. Jack at work. In fact she helped Mr. Jack get things out of his office and away from the windows. We hurried to get everything away from windows and got out of there.

The weather here today is actually really nice ~ it's hot, sunny and for the time we have a very nice breeze. However, I'm sure that will change later this afternoon to a little stonger winds. The coast, which is about 45 minutes away from us, is already seeing significant storm surges and even flooding. It's not started raining at all but the waves are really affecting the Galveston area.

Tim left to go to some of his stores this morning at 3:00am. I'm sure he is swamped with trucks and customers. I've gone by Lowes and Home Depot and their parking lots at 7:30 this morning were unbelievably packed. If that's any indication, he slammed today.

Well, I'm getting ready to finish up on laundry, dishes and get the house in order so we can sit around and wait for the storm. Tim has got lots of fun things for Laura to do in case the power goes out, which we've been told is a big possibility.

I'll update you guys later this afternoon. Take care!

Hurricane Ike ~ 2nd Update

Here's the latest update of Ike:



The drive home this afternoon was not that bad. Normally it takes me an hour to 1 & 1/2 hours to make it home. However, this afternoon it only took me 45 minutes. Most companies shut down today around noon or late afternoon so the drive home was a breeze (no pun intended). When I got to Laura's school, she was so excited ~ there is no school tomorrow for her and that was music to her ears. I am actually going in for a few hours, but as soon as I get the computers shut down and everything taken care of, I'm out of there. Laura will be going in with me and Tim will be making his rounds to the stores before the storm hits.

Luckily Tim was able to run to the store again this afternoon and he picked up a few things I didn't get on my trip. During our conversation, while he was in the grocery store, he asked "where can I get some glow sticks for Laura?". So, I quickly told him to go around the corner to Party City. I didn't know by telling him that, he would end up spending $100.00 on "fun stuff" for her to do during the hurricane. Tim wants to make sure Laura is aware of the danger of a hurricane, but he doesn't want her to think it's too scary either. We're letting Laura put her inside tent/bed in our room so she can be with us in the event Ike hits tomorrow evening. She's pretty excited about that too!

I'll check back in later. Take care!

Our 8th Anniversary!

Tim and I will be celebrating our 8th Anniversary on Tuesday and as always Tim loves to surprise me. Well, he didn't disappoint this year.

Saturday morning I woke up to breakfast in bed and a beautiful bouquet of pink flowers on the night stand. After breakfast, I was told to be ready by 10:15. Tim took Laura shopping for a gift, as she had a Birthday Party to attend that afternoon. When they got back, they brought company with them ~ Ms. Carissa. It seems Tim and Carissa had been working on my surprise for a few weeks.

The surprise was something I don't get much of, an all day date with my husband. Of course I still had no idea what all was in store, but I knew he would have it all planned out.

We started off the day at the Heights Massage & Day Spa. Tim and I enjoyed a couples massage. They pampered us with fruit and chocolate covered strawberries. After our massage we left and had a light lunch at Java Java. When we arrived at the address we had no idea we were actually at the restaurant because the awning read, "The Flower Shop". After walking all the way around the building, we finally decided to go in to the flower shop and ask for directions. Little did we know, it was Java Java the whole time. After lunch we ended up going home to get cleaned up since we were so greasy from the massage. Tim then took me to Barnes & Noble to pick out a new book. I picked out my book and we headed for Herman Park where I was able to sit and read, people watch and enjoy a beautiful day under the trees. Surprisingly, it was not that hot. In fact we had a nice breeze come through that afternoon. After spending a few hours there, we headed to the Alamo Draft House. Tim and I love watching movies here, because you can eat and drink while watching a movie. We ordered a bottle of wine to have with our meal. The movie we chose was The Dark Knight. I wasn't much of a fan of the movie, but I'm also not a Batman fan either. I thought Heath Ledger did an outstanding job as the Joker. He was truly dark in this movie, but it was a great performance to see from him. After the movie, we headed home just in time to tuck our little one in to bed and give goodnight hugs and kisses.

I had such a wonderful time on my date with my hubby. It's hard for us to get a chance to do stuff like that since all of our family lives in another state. So, when given the opportunity we don't pass it up.

Link to the Heights Massage & Day Spa
http://www.heightsmassage.com/
Link to Herman Park
http://www.hermannpark.org/index.html
Link to Alamo Draft House
http://www.drafthouse.com/